Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems | Climate-Smart Food Systems section | New and Recent Articleshttps://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sustainable-food-systems/sections/climate-smart-food-systems
RSS Feed for Climate-Smart Food Systems section in the Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems journal | New and Recent Articlesen-usFrontiers Feed Generator,version:12019-09-15T10:43:33.6909769+00:0060https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00071https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00071
The Potential Benefits and Trade-Offs of Using Sub-surface Water Retention Technology on Coarse-Textured Soils: Impacts of Water and Nutrient Saving on Maize Production and Soil Carbon Sequestration2019-09-06T00:00:00ZLibère NkurunzizaNgonidzashe ChirindaMarcos LanaRolf SommerStanley KaranjaIdupulapati RaoMiguel Romero SanchezMarcela QuinteroShem KuyahFrancis LewuAbraham JoelGeorge NyamadzawoAlvin SmuckerIn Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), many smallholder communities continuously grapple with soil-based poverty as the coarse-textured (sandy) soils, on which they eke out a living, have low water and nutrient retention capacities. The new sub-surface water retention technology (SWRT), which is based on the subsurface installation of impermeable water-retaining membranes of linear and low-density polyethylene, reduces the amount of water and nutrients lost through deep percolation especially on coarse-textured soils. In this study, we used stochastic simulations on the diffusion of SWRT on coarse-textured soils in eight different Eastern and Southern African countries. Using results from previous research on SWRT we estimated increases in maize grain yields and biomass accumulation. Results from the most promising diffusion scenarios suggested that with 20 years of widespread adoption of SWRT regional maize production could increase by 15 and 50 million tons per season. Carbon sequestration could reach 15 tons around 22 years after implementation (YAI) for the best diffusion scenario because of increased biomass production following SWRT adoption. The increased grain yield and carbon sequestration are limited by the initial state of SWRT adoption, which we expect will be based on the extent of awareness and promotional campaigns conducted by governments and development practitioners. While our results suggest synergistic reductions in the rate of water and nutrient loss from crop root zones, SWRT is characterized by high initial financial and labor investment costs, which without effective financial support, would be prohibitive to uptake by the generally resource-limited smallholder farmers working on sandy soils. Moreover, as SWRT is new, there is a need for more dissemination efforts to increase awareness on the technologies amongst extension workers, decision-makers, and agricultural investors that can promote and incentivize the adoption of this technology in areas where agricultural productivity is constrained by coarse-textured soils.]]>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00066https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00066
Gender Integration in Climate Change and Agricultural Policies: The Case of Nepal2019-08-23T00:00:00ZBimala Rai PaudyalNitya ChananaArun Khatri-ChhetriLakpa SherpaIshwori KadariyaPramod AggarwalGender integration across national policy processes is critical to ensure effective implementation of climate change adaptation interventions in agriculture. This is especially so for countries like Nepal, where climate vulnerability and women participation in agriculture is high, accompanied by gender gaps in access to information, technologies, markets, and labor burden. To do this, it becomes necessary to address the inter-related issues of gender, agriculture, and climate change instead of looking at them in isolation. This study, therefore, highlights policy gaps to suggest a set of recommendations for improving gender responsiveness at policy level in Nepal. It presents the gender gaps that women face in agriculture, based on data collected from five districts of the country. Subsequently, using the concept of gender-agriculture-climate change nexus, it analyses 20 government policies and related documents of Nepal based on a set of five indicators. The policy analysis elucidates the level of gender integration in agriculture and climate change policies in the country. Eleven of the 15 agriculture related documents acknowledge the need to focus on women farmers, with nine of them also defining provisions for women-related issues in agriculture. Two of the five climate change policies merely acknowledge gender issues related to climate change. However, only two of the 20 policy documents recognize the need to address gender, climate change, and agricultural issues in coherence. Accordingly, the paper proposes a framework highlighting key points to make policy process and implementation plans in the agriculture sector more gender responsive in Nepal, focusing on the development and promotion of gender responsive Climate-Smart Agriculture technologies and practices. It suggests measures to increase access of assets and services to women farmers, improve their capacity to participate in decision making across levels, and promote transformative changes at both local and policy level.]]>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00055https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00055
Climate Smart Agriculture? Governing the Sustainable Development Goals in Sub-Saharan Africa2019-08-07T00:00:00ZPeter NewellOlivia TaylorLars Otto NaessJohn ThompsonHussein MahmoudPatrick NdakiRaphael RurangwaAmdissa TeshomeThis paper examines the political economic and governance challenges faced by African governments in operationalizing Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) as part of their pursuit of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). There is a need to enrich our understanding of the diverse contexts and ways in which governments will have to navigate and address the inevitable choices and conflicts, synergies and trade-offs that will characterize efforts to simultaneously implement these global goals. Here we seek to develop an account of why and how countries are managing the interrelationship between SDGs, particularly those associated with food security and climate action. We develop explanations for the diversity in approaches and provide an initial assessment of what the consequences are for policy and practice. The analysis is informed by the contrasting experiences of four Eastern African countries, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Rwanda, as they seek to build more “climate resilient” food and agricultural systems that are compatible with achieving the SDGs.]]>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00061https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00061
The Livestock Sector in Colombia: Toward a Program to Facilitate Large-Scale Adoption of Mitigation and Adaptation Practices2019-08-06T00:00:00ZJeimar TapascoJean Fraçois LeCoqAlejandro RudenJuan Sebastián RivasJavier OrtizLivestock raising is an important sector of the Colombian economy, which will face serious challenges in the next decade, including adaptation to and mitigation of climate change. Colombia must change the model of livestock production in a very short time by freeing up areas of pasture for other uses and focusing intensified livestock production in suitable zones. Despite the urgency and the magnitude of the required changes, only isolated small-scale initiatives exist. Colombia therefore has the challenge to scale-up these initiatives1, but at present it has no program designed to achieve this objective. We started by analyzing the policies, actors, and existing initiatives in Colombia. We then sought to understand the potential for and the limitations to scaling-up promising initiatives to face the challenges of climate change in the livestock sector. We identified the key elements from previous initiatives and classified them into the conceptual spaces identified in the theory of scaling-up. These are the spaces in matters of: policy, fiscal and financial matters, institutional capacity, learning, partnerships, and technical matters, emphasizing the importance of the technical dimension. Finally, we propose some elements for the design of Colombia's national program of livestock raising.]]>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00053https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00053
Governing Seeds in East Africa in the Face of Climate Change: Assessing Political and Social Outcomes2019-07-24T00:00:00ZOla Tveitereid WestengenRuth HaugPaul GuthigaEric MachariaClimate change is already negatively affecting Sub Saharan African agriculture. One of the most effective ways to adapt on farm is to switch crop varieties. This technological change depends on the policies and institutions involved in governing the seed systems on which farmers rely for access to suitable seeds. Whilst the need for seed systems to adapt and become more resilient is indisputable, the question of how this is best achieved is debated. The dominant seed system development pathway promoted by international development actors is characterized by formalization and commercialization of the seed sector. In order to assess political and social outcomes of this development agenda, we compare maize seed system development in Ethiopia, Malawi and Tanzania, combining policy analysis with quantitative analysis of farmers' seed use. We show that while the development policies promoted by international donors have similar objectives in the three countries, national policies and the seed systems farmers use differ substantially. National policies are shaped by political and historical factors and established in an interplay between state institutions, international donors and private input suppliers. Drawing on a new livelihood dataset, we show that in all three countries the formalization agenda is most visible in maize seed systems, with 25, 61, and 58% of the maize farmers planting improved maize varieties in the study sites in Ethiopia, Malawi and Tanzania, respectively. The inroads of improved maize, and particularly hybrid maize, in farmers' seed systems reflects these seeds high profitability for private seed companies. The tenuous use of improved varieties in crops such as sorghum reflects the limitation of the private sector-based seed system development approach in other crops and illustrates the need for public research and governance. Comparison of households cultivating improved maize with households cultivating local maize reveals that the first group is significantly wealthier and more food secure than the latter. This suggests that better-off households are likely to benefit first from the commercial formalization agenda. We argue that climate-smart seed policies and seed system development strategies must be sensitive to differences between farming systems and different groups of farmers if they are to deliver socially fair outcomes.]]>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00049https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00049
Entry Points for Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Small-Scale Dairy Farms: Looking Beyond Milk Yield Increase2019-07-04T00:00:00ZMarion de VriesWindi Al ZahraAdriaan P. WoutersCorina E. van MiddelaarSimon J. OostingBess TiesnamurtiTheun V. VellingaIncreasing milk yield per cow is considered a promising climate change mitigation strategy for small-scale dairy farms in developing countries. As it can be difficult to increase cow productivity, mitigation options beyond this production strategy need to be identified. The aim of this study was to identify entry points for mitigation of GHG emissions in small-scale dairy farms in Lembang Sub-district, West Java, Indonesia. Data on herd composition, productivity, feeding, and manure management were collected in a survey of 300 randomly selected dairy farms. Characteristics of farms with the 25% lowest (<3291 kg milk/cow/y), medium 50% (3291–4975 kg milk/cow/y), and 25% highest milk yields (≥4976 kg milk/cow/y) were compared. Life cycle assessment was then performed to estimate the cradle-to-farm gate GHG emission intensity (EI) of farms. The relationship between EI and milk yield per cow for all farms was modeled and farms with an EI below and above their predicted EI were compared (“low” and “high” EI farms). Results showed that milk yield explained 57% of the variance in EI among farms. Farms with medium and high milk yields were more often specialized farms, fed more tofu waste and compound feed, and had higher feed costs than farms with low milk yields (P < 0.05). Farms with high milk yields also applied less manure on farm land than farms with low milk yields (P < 0.05). Low EI farms had fewer cows, and fed less rice straw, more cassava waste, and more compound concentrate feed (particularly the type of concentrates consisting largely of by-products from milling industries) than high EI farms (P < 0.05). In addition, low EI farms discharged more manure, stored less solid manure, used less manure for anaerobic digestion followed by daily spreading, and applied less manure N on farmland than high EI farms (P < 0.05). Some associations were affected by confounding factors. Farm management factors associated with milk yield and the residual variation in EI were considered potential entry points for GHG mitigation. Feeding less rice straw and discharging manure, however, were considered unsuitable mitigation strategies because of expected trade-offs with other environmental issues or negative impacts on food-feed competition.]]>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00051https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00051
Examining Genetic Variation in Maize Inbreds and Mapping Oxidative Stress Response QTL in B73-Mo17 Nearly Isogenic Lines2019-07-04T00:00:00ZCrystal A. SorginiIlse Barrios-PerezPatrick J. BrownElizabeth A. AinsworthScreening crop plants under elevated ozone concentrations ([O3]) is a pre-requisite for identification of tolerant lines, but few studies have mapped maize responses to elevated [O3]. B73-Mo17 nearly isogenic lines (NILs) were screened in the field under ambient (~40 ppb) and elevated (~100 ppb) [O3] at the Free Air gas Concentration Enrichment (FACE) research facility in Champaign, IL to identify maize leaf damage QTL associated with variation in O3-induced oxidative stress response. In Mo17 NILs, a significant leaf damage QTL was identified at 161Mb on chromosome 2. To assess the feasibility of high-throughput phenotyping and fine mapping of early season O3 leaf damage QTL, a subset of the nested association mapping (NAM) founder lines were screened in a growth chamber experiment under ambient and elevated [O3]. Results showed that elevated [O3] decreased the number of green leaves while increasing the number of lesioned and dead leaves. Most lines showed the same general response to elevated [O3], but the degree of damage varied among lines. Next, tolerant and sensitive B73-Mo17 NILs identified from the FACE study, and hybrid crosses of the identified NILs with Mo17 (n = 20) were grown under elevated O3 (~150 ppb) in growth chambers (n = 7). In the chambers, O3-sensitive lines could be distinguished from tolerant lines based on leaf lesions, but there was not a continuous degree of damage like that seen in the field. This research identified a repeatable O3-induced leaf damage QTL and developed populations and markers that can be used in future growth chamber fine mapping experiments. These results demonstrate the feasibility of high-throughput phenotyping and fine mapping of O3 leaf damage QTL in a controlled environment.]]>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00037https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00037
Co-designing Climate-Smart Farming Systems With Local Stakeholders: A Methodological Framework for Achieving Large-Scale Change2019-05-24T00:00:00ZNadine AndrieuFanny HowlandIvonne Acosta-AlbaJean-François Le CoqAna Milena Osorio-GarciaDeissy Martinez-BaronCatherine Gamba-TrimiñoAna Maria LoboguerreroEduardo ChiaThe literature is increasing on how to prioritize climate-smart options with stakeholders but relatively few examples exist on how to co-design climate-smart farming systems with them, in particular with smallholder farmers. This article presents a methodological framework to co-design climate-smart farming systems with local stakeholders (farmers, scientists, NGOs) so that large-scale change can be achieved. This framework is based on the lessons learned during a research project conducted in Honduras and Colombia from 2015 to 2017. Seven phases are suggested to engage a process of co-conception of climate-smart farming systems that might enable implementation at scale: (1) “exploration of the initial situation,” which identifies local stakeholders potentially interested in being involved in the process, existing farming systems, and specific constraints to the implementation of climate-smart agriculture (CSA); (2) “co-definition of an innovation platform,” which defines the structure and the rules of functioning for a platform favoring the involvement of local stakeholders in the process; (3) “shared diagnosis,” which defines the main challenges to be solved by the innovation platform; (4) “identification and ex ante assessment of new farming systems,” which assess the potential performances of solutions prioritized by the members of the innovation platform under CSA pillars; (5) “experimentation,” which tests the prioritized solutions on-farm; (6) “assessment of the co-design process of climate-smart farming systems,” which validates the ability of the process to reach its initial objectives, particularly in terms of new farming systems but also in terms of capacity building; and (7) “definition of strategies for scaling up/out,” which addresses the scaling of the co-design process. For each phase, specific tools or methodologies are used: focus groups, social network analysis, theory of change, life-cycle assessment, and on-farm experiments. Each phase is illustrated with results obtained in Colombia or Honduras.]]>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00032https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00032
Edible Microorganisms—An Overlooked Technology Option to Counteract Agricultural Expansion2019-05-08T00:00:00ZTomas Linderhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00031https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00031
The Policy Enabling Environment for Climate Smart Agriculture: A Case Study of California2019-05-08T00:00:00ZJosette LewisJessica RudnickClimate smart agriculture (CSA) provides a framework for balancing multiple dimensions of agriculture and food systems in an era of climate change: addressing agricultural contributions to global greenhouse gas emissions, vulnerabilities to climate change impacts, and the relationship between agricultural productivity, incomes and food security. As the global climate agenda more thoroughly integrates the CSA framework, policy makers often search for “triple wins”—practices that can mitigate emissions, increase resilience or adaptation, and increase productivity. Agriculture and food systems however, are complex systems with many agroecological and sociopolitical interdependencies. In many cases, there are necessary tradeoffs among the three CSA objectives, as advancement in one area may negatively impact another. A major challenge to implementing CSA across multiple geographies thus lies in the coordination of policies and programs that recognize these tradeoffs and allow for prioritization or reconciliation among the three objectives when there are conflicts. This paper describes California's adoption of CSA principles to illustrate how synergies and trade-offs are addressed in a policy framework that spans regulatory measures, incentive programs, research, and technological development, that is both climate specific and arising from other simultaneous environmental and economic priorities. We provide specific examples where agriculture has benefited and where it is constrained due to the balancing of CSA objectives, and discuss how the policy environment has evolved over time in attempts to deal with the complexity of the agriculture-climate nexus. This case serves to summarize and analyze the implemented CSA initiatives in one of most productive and well-resourced agricultural regions of the world; however, lessons learned from California can serve as transferable knowledge for other regions around the globe who are currently developing CSA policies and plans. Our findings suggest that cross-sectoral collaboration, policy coordination, and inclusion of a diverse set of stakeholders are fundamental to the efficacy of CSA strategies in complex and ever-evolving environmental and sociopolitical conditions.]]>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00014https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00014
Reviewing Vietnam's Nationally Determined Contribution: A New Perspective Using the Marginal Cost of Abatement2019-04-10T00:00:00ZDaniel Escobar CarbonariGodefroy GrosjeanPeter LäderachTran Dai NghiaBjoern Ole SanderJustin McKinleyLeocadio SebastianJeimar TapascoThe processes countries use to revise their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the UNFCCC's Paris Agreement will be key to ensure that their pledges lead to effective climate change policy. In many developing countries, the agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU) sector is central to their NDCs. For this study, a marginal abatement cost (MAC) curve was used to review Vietnam's mitigation pledges pertaining to the AFOLU sector. We conclude that Vietnam has the potential to increase its NDC pledges, especially in the land use sector and through negative cost mitigation measures including water techniques for rice cultivation, agroforestry, and management of livestock diets and manure. While the MAC curve alone is insufficient to prioritize policy options, this study highlights the fundamental importance of continuous data improvement and refinement for monitoring NDC actions and ultimately achieving the goals set out in the Paris Agreement.]]>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00019https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00019
Carbon Dioxide Emission and Soil Sequestration for the French Agro-Food System: Present and Prospective Scenarios2019-04-04T00:00:00ZJulia Le NoëGilles BillenJosette GarnierFrance is a major agricultural power, characterized by a high degree of regional specialization, either in stockless cash crop farming, exporting most of its intensive cereal production, or in intensive livestock farming highly dependent on foreign feed imports. This agricultural model is characterized by wide nutrient and carbon cycle opening and severe environmental pollution. Based on the nutrient accounting GRAFS model, two contrasted scenarios for the French agricultural system at the 2050 horizon have recently been designed and evaluated for their capacity to meet both the national population's food demand and environmental standards in terms of water pollution. The first scenario (O/S, for opening and specialization) assumes the continuation of the current trends of intensification, specialization, and opening to international markets. The second one (A/R/D, for autonomy, reconnection, and demitarian diet) assumes a radical change toward organic farming with diversification of crop rotations, reconnection of crop and livestock farming, and reduction of the proportion of animal proteins in the human diet. Herein we calculate the budget of CO2 emissions and C sequestration in soils of these two scenarios compared with the current situation of the French agro-food system, by coupling the GRAFS and AMG models. These simulations reveal that the overall CO2 emissions balance of the O/S scenario is far higher than those of the A/R/D, namely because of the emissions associated with mineral fertilizer manufacture, and imported feed and mechanization of land management requiring a large amount of fossil fuel. As the organic carbon content of the soil is known to be highly path-dependent (in the sense that it is the inheritance of previous land use practices), we tested the effect of two rates of implementation of the two scenarios and evaluated the response time of the C soil store, which is of the order of two decades or more. This reveals that after about two-three decades following the implementation of a scenario, an equilibrium is reached with no more net soil C emission nor sequestration.]]>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00021https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00021
Climate Services Can Support African Farmers' Context-Specific Adaptation Needs at Scale2019-04-03T00:00:00ZJames W. HansenCatherine VaughanDesire M. KagaboTufa DinkuEdward R. CarrJana KörnerRobert B. ZougmoréWe consider the question of what is needed for climate services to support sub-Saharan African farmers' adaptation needs at the scale of the climate challenge. Consistent with an earlier assessment that mutually reinforcing supply-side and demand-side capacity constraints impede the development of effective climate services in Africa, our discussion of strategies for scaling up practices that meet farmers' needs, and opportunities to address long-standing obstacles, is organized around: (a) meeting farmers' climate information needs; (b) supporting access, understanding and use; and (c) co-production of services. A widespread gap between available information and farmers' needs is associated with entrenched seasonal forecast convention and obstacles to using observational data. Scalable innovations for producing more locally relevant historical and forecast climate information for farm decision-making are beginning to be adopted. Structured participatory communication processes help farmers relate complex climate information to their experience, and integrate it into their management decisions. Promising efforts to deliver rural climate services strategically combine communication channels that include participatory processes embedded in existing agricultural advisory systems, and innovations in interactive broadcast media. Efforts to engage farmers in co-production of climate services improve delivery to farmers and dialogue among stakeholders, but often with little impact on the usability of available information. We discuss challenges and options for capturing farmers' evolving demands, and aggregating and incorporating this information into iterative improvements to climate services at a national scale. We find evidence that key weaknesses in the supply and the demand sides of climate services continue to reinforce each other to impede progress toward meeting farmers' needs at scale across Africa. Six recommendations target these weaknesses: (1) change the way seasonal forecasts are produced and presented regionally and nationally, (2) use merged gridded data as a foundation for national climate information products, (3) remove barriers to using historical data as a public good, (4) mobilize those who work on the demand side of climate services as an effective community of practice, (5) collectively assess and improve tools and processes for communicating climate information with rural communities, and (6) build iterative co-production processes into national climate service frameworks.]]>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00003https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00003
Financing Large-Scale Mitigation by Smallholder Farmers: What Roles for Public Climate Finance?2019-03-19T00:00:00ZCharles Odhong'Andreas WilkesSuzanne van DijkMiriam VorlauferSamuel NdongaBrian Sing'oraLucy KenyanitoThere is increasing interest in accessing climate finance to support low-emission, climate resilient agricultural development, but little is understood about how climate finance can be deployed to catalyze large-scale adoption of mitigation practices by smallholder farmers. This study assesses the potential roles of public climate finance in enabling smallholder farmers in Kenya's dairy sector to adopt low-emission farming practices. Drawing on multiple studies conducted as part of the design of a nationally appropriate mitigation action for the Kenyan dairy sector, it examines financing needs, institutional arrangements for channeling climate finance, and appropriate financial instruments. The study finds that financially profitable investments can be made by dairy farmers, but credit financing on commercial terms is not viable for dairy farmers lacking off-farm income sources. Dairy farmers make little use of formal financial institutions for several reasons, and while financial institutions have a strong interest in increasing their finance to the dairy sector, they face a variety of capacity constraints. Climate finance may have roles to play in strengthening linkages between dairy farmers and financial institutions, building capacities of different actors in the dairy and finance sectors, and enabling both farmers and financial institutions to manage risks. Concessional loans, credit guarantee funds and grants are all relevant financial instruments. If agriculture is to attract climate finance in support of large-scale mitigation action, a diversified, demand-responsive approach to financial innovation is required that engages different types of financial institution to support access to both savings and credit services tailored to the varied needs of men and women dairy farmers and the dairy value chain actors they work with.]]>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00013https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00013
Benchmarking Eco-Efficiency and Footprints of Dutch Agriculture in European Context and Implications for Policies for Climate and Environment2019-03-11T00:00:00ZHans J. M. van GrinsvenMartha M. van EerdtHenk WesthoekSonja KruitwagenThe agricultural sector in the Netherlands is per unit of land the most productive and efficient sector in the European Union (EU). However, emissions of ammonia, surpluses of nitrogen and phosphorus, and use of pesticides per hectare of agricultural land are also among the highest in the EU. In spite of successful policies and farm measures to reduce this pollution, agriculture still constitutes the largest environmental pressure on biodiversity. Dutch agriculture, including horticulture, also contributes 14% (32 Mton CO2-eq in 2016) to the national emissions of greenhouse gasses (GHG). These emissions hardly decreased since 2000. In the current bid to meet the Paris Climate Agreement (PCA), the agricultural sector will need to reduce emission by 3.5 Mton in 2030. The relative reduction target for GHG by agriculture is 11% and less than the national target of 49%, but still is a challenge because the technical potential for reduction of methane and nitrous oxides is relatively small. Apart from technical measures and innovations, there is an increasing call in society for structural measures, like reduction of livestock, to assure an appropriate reduction of GHG emission from agriculture. However, there are also concerns about leakage effects when livestock production would increase elsewhere, e.g., in the EU, causing a net increase of GHG emission and increased local environmental pollution. We carried out a Life Cycle Analysis for production of milk, pork, poultry, potato, and wheat in other EU countries which disclosed that GHG emission per unit of product in the Netherlands is similar to that in Germany and France, while lower than in central and southern EU. Nitrogen and phosphorus surplus per unit of product for Dutch products often are higher due to the high use of manure. These results indicate that the risk of transboundary leakage effects likely is small when implementing PCA for agriculture in the Netherlands or stricter environmental policies, also when including reduction of livestock production. Further, growth of livestock production in other European regions might be avoided by climate policies or when consumption of livestock products would decrease due to increased consumer awareness or targeted interventions.]]>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00010https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2019.00010
Intensifying Inequality? Gendered Trends in Commercializing and Diversifying Smallholder Farming Systems in East Africa2019-02-27T00:00:00ZKatie TavennerMark van WijkSimon FravalJames HammondIsabelle BaltenweckNils TeufelEsther KihoroNicoline de HaanJacob van EttenJonathan SteinkeDavid BainesPietro CarpenaTom SkirrowTodd RosenstockChristine LamannaMary Ng'endoSabrina ChestermanNictor NamoiLucas MandaWhile the commercialization and diversification of agricultural and livestock systems have been identified as key global strategies for climate change adaptation and mitigation, less is known as to the large-scale gendered impacts that are implicated in these transformations among smallholder crop and livestock farmers. This study explores these gender impacts across different farming systems and gender-respondent-household typologies using data from the Rural Household Multiple Indicator Survey (RHoMIS) in 2,859 households in three East African countries—Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania. Female control scores over incomes or foodstuffs produced through both on and off farm activities were highest in farming systems that had more land and more livestock. However, increasing commercialization—defined herein as the increasing importance of crop and livestock sales to farm households—resulted in an overall decline in female control across all farming systems and gender-respondent-household typologies. In contrast, crop and livestock diversification were positively associated with female control across gender-respondent-household typologies. Analysis of specific crops and livestock products across farming systems and respondent typologies revealed women have far greater control over decisions related to consumption than decisions related to sales, although the gap between the two were less pronounced in lesser-valued livestock products (chickens, eggs). However, the analyses suggest that as sale of crops and livestock increase, female control over these areas could likely diminish, regardless of specific activity. The authors conclude that approaches to adapt to or mitigate climate change that rely on increasing market orientation of smallholder production will likely intensify men's control over benefits from production, whereas diversification will likely have a more positive impact on female control. Thus, climate adaptation strategies promoting increased diversification will likely have a more positive impact on women smallholders than commercialization alone. The authors recommend that when commercialization is the target intervention, it must be accompanied by a gender differentiated analysis of trade-offs and risks to mitigate the potential negative consequences shown in this study.]]>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2018.00075https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2018.00075
Corrigendum: Frontiers in Climate Smart Food Systems: Outlining the Research Space2018-11-08T00:00:00ZStephen WhitfieldAndrew Juan ChallinorRobert M. Reeshttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2018.00065https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2018.00065
Transformation in Practice: A Review of Empirical Cases of Transformational Adaptation in Agriculture Under Climate Change2018-10-10T00:00:00ZSonja J. VermeulenDhanush DineshS. Mark HowdenLaura CramerPhilip K. ThorntonIncremental adaptation may be inadequate to deal with rapid shifts and tipping points for food production under climate change. The concepts of transformative and transformational adaptation have emerged in recent years to address the need for major, non-marginal transitions in sectors, such as agriculture in response to climate change. However, there is less empirical evidence of transformation in practice. Here we use a simple semi-quantitative definition to identify recorded cases of transformational adaptation in response to climate change. A structured search of academic literature found 23 empirical case studies that meet our criteria for transformation of agriculture under climate change: a response to climate risks along with a redistribution of at least a third in the primary factors of production (land, labor, capital) or the outputs and outcomes of production over a time period of 25 years or less. The case studies offer experience-based lessons on managing transformative processes in agriculture at all four stages of the adaptation cycle: understanding goals and objectives, developing a vision and pathway, implementing adaptation actions, and monitoring, evaluating and learning. In general, the case-study processes of transformation have diverged from well-managed, inclusive approaches based on foresight and continual learning. Our review provides little early evidence that transformative adaptation processes in response to climate change have generated more resilient agricultural systems or improvements in governance. Governments and development partners could improve the effectiveness of outcomes through providing more comprehensive and long-term approaches to adaptation planning alongside financial and technical assistance, within a framework that rewards farms as multi-functional systems.]]>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2018.00043https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2018.00043
Unearthing Unevenness of Potato Seed Networks in the High Andes: A Comparison of Distinct Cultivar Groups and Farmer Types Following Seasons With and Without Acute Stress2018-07-30T00:00:00ZAlejandra ArceStef de HaanDharani D. BurraRaul CcantoFarmer seed systems are considered pivotal to adaptation to climate change and the on-farm conservation of agrobiodiversity in centers of crop origin. To better understand their distinct role, we conducted a multipronged analysis of potato seed exchange networks in Peru's central Andes distinguishing between cultivar groups and farmer types following cropping seasons with and without acute stress. Cultivar groups involved (i) bred varieties, (ii) commercial floury landraces, (iii) non-commercial floury landraces (single cultivars), (iv) non-commercial floury landraces (mixed cultivars), and (v) bitter landraces. Farmer types involved (i) general farmers, (ii) seed specialists, and (iii) custodian farmers. Documentation of seed acquisition and provision without differentiating between farmers and cultivar groups may not accurately reflect the fine-grained dynamics underlying seed networks. To test this, a semi-structured survey of 336 households was conducted in 2014–2015 to study seed procurement in two research sites. Results confirm that seed networks are uneven and distinct for cultivar groups and farmer types. Commercial floury landraces and bred varieties were dominant when it came to frequency of transactions, volumes and overall availability. Bitter landraces represent an extreme opposite case, being procured infrequently. Non-commercial floury landraces represent an intermediate case as they are regularly procured in comparatively small volumes. The influence of general farmers and traders within seed networks is essential for overall seed access. The role of specialists and custodians is less omnipresent; yet, both fulfill a unique role. Specialists as providers of large volumes of certified seed of commercial floury landraces and bred varieties. Custodians as a source of diverse non-commercial floury landraces. Seed networks did re-organize following seasons with acute seed stress. A notable shift involved a contraction of seed networks within sub-regional clusters. Following stress, the directionality of seed provision vs. acquisition inverted. While average seed volumes acquired per transaction nearly halved, farmers' net seed acquisitions surpassed provisions in response to stress. We suggest that the self-regulatory capacity of farmer seed networks represents a strong safety net through which smallholders can respond to crop failure and seed stress. Seed system interventions aimed at genetic resources conservation or relief should build on these seed networks.]]>https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2018.00002https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2018.00002
Frontiers in Climate Smart Food Systems: Outlining the Research Space2018-01-31T00:00:00ZStephen WhitfieldAndrew Juan ChallinorRobert M. Rees